Your Flag Is My Flag
by H. Gibson
Summary: The SeaQuest crew plays Capture the Flag.


Jason crouched against the wall, just inside the door of one of the labs. He motioned to his team to split left and right in order to flank the opponent's home base. They nodded, understanding the military sign language perfectly.

This was a serious situation. Reputations were on the line. His team had never been beaten and he wanted to keep it that way. This was the last point. If they got it, they won. The game? Capture the Flag. They'd adapted it for play on ship and Lucas had built the tech they used during their games. Headsets with mics attached for inter-team communication, a sensor that attached to your clothes, and the remote laser pointers that another player would use to "shoot" you. If they pointed the laser and hit your sensor, it would go off and you were out; you'd have to go back to home base for a reset. The sensor idea had been borrowed from the old "Laser Tag" game as a necessity. If this game were played on shore they'd be using paintball guns, but since they were on ship they'd had to come up with something else.

The rules were simple. Approach your opponent's base, steal their flag, and run like hell. If you got back to your base with their flag, your team scored a point, the flag was returned and the game began all over again. The maglev was off limits and couldn't be used. Sea Deck was basically split in half to mark the territory. Their home base was Mammal Engineering. Of course, things being as they were, this game was being played with all of the precision and strategy that one would expect from a crew on a military vessel.

Jason looked at Katya and Lucas, two of the members of his team. Kat smiled at him, she had something up her sleeve when she smiled like that he'd quickly found out. He loved having her on his team. She'd surprised them all with her skill, though none of them were sure where it had come from; she had the highest kill rate of anyone on either team. It almost made him wish she'd enlist, but he didn't want to see the girl he'd come to regard as a sister in any sort of military action. Given what she could do, he had a feeling that whatever they'd turn her into wouldn't be good.

They were short one member. Commander Ford had defected to the other team and was leading them, making it much more difficult for Jason's team. He still had Kat and Lucas as well as Miguel and some of the other crew who played with them. They heard footsteps and they all tensed, waiting. The footsteps stopped outside the door and then turned inside. Suddenly a familiar voice called out in a whisper.

"Hey, you guys have room for one more?" They all looked at each other in shock as Captain Bridger squatted down, a grin on his face. "I saw Ford cross over, figured you might need another man."

"Hell yes!" Jason replied. "Um…I mean, yes sir. Lucas, double back and pick up the gear." Bridger chuckled and Lucas nodded, flashed his trademark grin and took off for his room. "Anya, cover him?" he asked, using Kat's "official" name. She nodded and ran off after him. A few moments later, they heard the voice of someone from the other team.

"Damn it!"

Jason grinned and touched the com set. "Good job Anya."

He heard her light laughter through his head set. "Don't they know not to mess with me?"

"Guess not."

"Amateurs," she said, drawing snickers from her teammates.

"What's she saying?" the Captain asked, wondering if he was the joke.

"Sir, Anya is our weapon of mass destruction! She's got the highest kill rate of anyone on either team. That girl is deadly."

"Really?"

Jason nodded. "She's never been hit either, which is why she's a prime target."

"The highest kill rate _and_ she's never been out? Impressive."

"Very. In all the times we played this game at the academy, I never saw someone pull that off or even come close to touching her numbers."

"Me either," Bridger replied honestly.

Lucas, crouched down, came back into the room, tossing the team-specific gear to the Captain, who quickly put it on. The gear had been Ford's but he'd been given a set for the other team when he went over to their side. Jason quickly ran through the controls and plan of attack, and then they were ready to go. Jason gave the signal and the team moved out. The Captain was in Jason's group.

"Who's going for it?" Jason whispered into his mic.

"I am," Kat called back softly.

"Oh _sweet_," Jason replied. "You're about to see a good show Captain."

Jason stopped the team and peered around the corner, seeing a group of newbies guarding the flag. "Oh man, these guys are going to die."

Miguel laughed softly. "You got that right. How stupid!"

Jason saw a small red light float along the wall, and the three guards were taken out in quick succession. "What the hell was that?"

Lucas answered him. "I made a sniper rifle," he said proudly.

"Oh man, Lucas, that's brilliant! I don't know why we didn't think about that before! There are no rules against modifications!"

"I know! I'll show it to you later!"

The guards, since they were at home base, were considered inactive for 5 minutes. Kat sprinted out from around the corner, snatching the flag and running past Jason and the rest of the team, headed for Mammal Engineering.

"Anya has it!" one of the guards radioed back.

"Crap!" Jason yelled. "Anya! They're on to you! RUN! We're behind you!" He said, standing up and running down the corridor, followed by the rest of team.

"Read you loud and clear Jas! To get this back they've got to catch me first," she called back breathlessly.

They took a short cut and quickly caught up with her just as the other team did. Ben jumped out at her but she dodged him and managed to hit his sensor in the process. She laughed and kept going; knowing that Jason and the rest of the team had her back. Suddenly a small contingent of about 6 players from the other team appeared in front of her.

"Oh hell," Jason said, lifting his pointer. Kat lost no time. Seemingly without even having to think, she dodged their lights and hit their sensors, taking all of them out on her own.

"Holy cow!" the Captain exclaimed.

"I told you sir!" Jason said, shooting a grin behind him. "Go Anya!" She turned and looked back at them with a grin just as Ford stepped in front of her. "Anya look out!"

But it didn't come soon enough. She ran right into him and it sent her crumpling to the floor. He lifted his pointer, preparing to shoot her sensor. "Finally!" he cried, but his sensor went off and he looked up in shock.

"Not so fast Commander!" Bridger called out, lowering his pointer. "I think that means you're out when I make it go off like that," he said, patting his shoulder as he ran to help Kat up off the floor. She scrambled up and ran, and he grinned at Ford.

"Oh you have to be _kidding_ me!" Ford cried in exasperation.

Kat sped up her pace, she was almost there. Where three corridors converged she gasped as Tim and Ben stepped out in front of her and she went for her pointer but it was gone. She must have lost it when she'd run into Ford. "Oh holy Hell! I'm _so_ dead!"

"Yep," the two said in unison.

"Not even close!" she heard Lucas call out from behind her as the sensors on the two men went off. "Go!" he yelled at her.

She blew him a quick kiss. "See! This is why I love you!"

"I know, I know. Now haul ass!"

She ran the rest of the way down the hallway and reached the moon pool setting the flag on top. The game was over and they'd won. Lucas came charging in, followed by the rest of the team.

"Woohoo!" Jason yelled, picking her up and swinging her around. "Another undefeated day for Anya and still a perfect record for the team!"

"Thanks for getting Commander Ford, Captain," she said.

"No problem kiddo, it's what playing is all about. Next time though, come get me when you start a game."

"You got it sir!" Jason replied.

"And Anya…good shooting," Bridger said.

"Thanks!"

The other team walked into the room, all smiles despite the loss. "Good game Jason, as usual," Hitchcock said, shaking his hand.

"Yeah, sorry about that Katie, but I had to take you down."

"Hey, it's the point of the game!"

Ford scowled. "Next Saturday. It's on."

"We'll be there," Lucas said.

Ford grinned. "Excellent," he replied, turning to look at Kat. "And you, I'll get you yet. Just wait."

"I'll be waiting with baited breath. Really."

"Well, you know how it is Commander. Losing team buys lunch," Jason said with a smile.

Ford sighed. "Yeah I know. Never thought I'd actually have to pay. Come on, let's go."

"Maybe next time you won't have to," Jason offered.

"Right," Ford replied, headed for the mess. "And pigs fly."


End file.
